Names from the Arts and Pop Culture
Poetic Baby Names
Across 13 pages
of 13
Devin
Irish
"poet"
Used far more for boys with this spelling, but still has a nice impish Irish feel for a girl.
Caoilte
Irish
"slender"
In Irish legend Caoilte or Caílte was a warrior of the Fianna and their foremost poet.
Canto
Italian
"song or stanza"
A canto is a literary term denoting a long passage in a poem. Dante's Divine Comedy is broken into such cantos. As a name, Canto packs in literary credentials with pithy punch.
Auden
English
"old friend"
A softly poetic surname name, associated with poet W.H., Auden is enjoying quiet but marked fashion status. It was chosen for his daughter by Noah Wyle and is definitely one to watch.
Caissa
Italian invented name
Caïssa was invented as a goddess of chess by Italian poet Marco Girolamo Vida in 1527. The name is known in the chess community, but not much outside of that.
Astrophel
Literary name
"star lover"
Invented by 16th-century English poet Sir Philip Sidney for the hero of his sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella , this name is derived from the Greek elements aster "star" and philos "lover".…
Angelou
Literary name, Greek
"angel"
If you want to move beyond Maya, you might consider this distinctive last name of poet Maya Angelou. Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, Angelou was given the nickname Maya by her brother and adopted…
Aisling
Irish
"dream, vision"
Aisling is currently a very popular Irish name for girls . Pronounced variously as ASH-ling, ASH-lin or ash-LEEN, it was part of the revival of authentic Irish names in the twentieth century, and is…
Caedmon
Anglo-Saxon, Brythonic
"battle, wise warrior"
An ancient name with poetic and mystical qualities, Caedmon was borne by a 7th-century poet, notable for being the first English poet to have their name recorded. Caedmon appears in the 8th-century…
Cadman
Anglo-Saxon
"warrior"
Caedmon is considered the first English poet -- a nice literary tie-in to the streamlined version.
Assia
Arabic
"protect"
Assia is a Muslim name, best known in the Western world via tragic poet Assia Wevill, who was married to British poet Ted Hughes after Sylvia Plath and also committed suicide. Assia is a Top 100 name…
Eliot
Variation of Elliot, English diminutive of Elias
"Yahweh is God"
Eliot is the sleekest spelling of the original, very occasionally used for girls, perhaps to honor novelist George Eliot.
Elegy
English word name from the Greek Elegeia
"lament"
An elegy is a poem lamenting a deceased person. As a name, it could be used by parents in remembrance of a recently deceased person or as a euphonic and unusual literary name. The original Greek…
Eithne
Gaelic
"nut kernel"
Pretty and soulful name of a goddess from Irish mythology and several Irish saints. Singer Enya, born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, has made the Anglicized spelling familiar. Eithne comes from the vocabulary…
Emare
French
The name of a medieval romance poem. The title character, Emaré, was desired for her great beauty.
Egan
Variation of Aidan, Irish
"little fire"
Egan's likeness to the word eager gives this Irish surname a ready-to-please, effervescent energy, and it would make an appropriate substitute for the overused Aidan. This popular Irish surname…
Arofan
Welsh, meaning unknown
A seventh-century Welsh poet about whom little more than his name is known.
Epic
English word name
"grand, heroic, monumental in scale; a long poem derived from ancient oral tradition"
Literature and poetry lovers might use Epic as a word name — an epic is a long narrative poem, typically the story of a hero. But epic has taken on a contemporary meaning of "impressive," which makes…
Epic
English word name
Epic feels like it could be the boys' version of Saga. Epic poetry tells some of our most celebrated stories - from Beowulf and the Odyssey, to the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Despite being…
Aneirin
Welsh
"very golden or noble"
Aneirin is the original form of the more common Aneurin (which was a mistaken spelling used after the 17th Century). Aneirin was one of the first great Welsh poets who flourished in the 6th Century.…